


Karkat Universe

by lord_of_cats



Category: Homestuck, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Kanaya was Rose Quartz, Karkat is Steven, M/M, actually onyx, and the b4 are the gems, but w/e
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-11-24
Packaged: 2018-08-08 16:43:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7765393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lord_of_cats/pseuds/lord_of_cats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Karkat's 12th birthday, and his family has something to tell him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birthday Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so.  
> Rose is Purple Pearl bc she's super elegant and ya.  
> Kanaya (and Karkat) is Onyx.  
> Jade is Jadeite bc Jade.  
> John and Dave's fusion is Pietersite bc red and blue.  
> Dave is Carnelian and John is Blue Zircon

Your name is Karkat Vantas-Universe, and it is your birthday.

You’re turning twelve years old, which is an exciting event for your guardians, but not so much for you.

 

Honestly, the three of them are like a bunch of over-protective mothers.

Purple Pearl, is probably the worst in the over-protective mother department. She’s constantly making sure you don’t get hurt from anything and that you’re in peak mental condition. She’s incredibly sophisticated, and she enjoys teaching you about Gem culture. You hate her lessons, but you act like you’re interested because it makes her happy.

Jadeite, Jade for short, is more an older sister. She’s fun, energetic and an excellent fighter. She enjoys teaching you about plants and animals, especially the ones your birth-mother, Onyx, tended to. You don’t mind those actually, it’s nice tending to the plants your mother once cultivated. You don’t admit it though, you have a reputation to uphold.

Pietersite isn’t very motherly, but he sure can pull a mean prank. There are countless times you’ve found yourself on the receiving end of one of his whoopee cushions, or water-buckets-over-doors or any other classic, juvenile cliché prank he pulls. You know it’s him, but he always gets away with it—that poker face is indestructible. Pranks aside, he can still be mature and respectful at the same time he is a total douchebag.

 

Unlike Jade and Purple Pearl, Pietersite has two gems—one on his left eye, which he hides behind dark glasses, the other proudly resting on his stomach.

Last night, he took you aside and explained that for a special treat, he is going to tell you why.

…It’s kept you up all night thinking about it.

 

You have heard Rose, Jade and Pietersite talk about something in hushed tones, until you walk past and they greet you as normal. You’ve heard snippets of ‘unfuse’, ‘birthday’ and ‘have him meet his sort-of-dads/brothers’ and a bonus of 'ewww Jade I don't want to hear about your incestuous fantasies' 'fuck off Pietersite'.

You have no idea what that means, and it’s bugging you like crazy.

 

Once again, you glance around your room, trying to get to sleep. It’s night time, obviously, so you can’t really see your room that well. You can only see basic shapes and dark masses.

Which isn’t at all scary, nope, not at all.

You hear the soft creek of someone coming up the stairs. You didn’t hear the familiar ‘ding’! and flash of light the temple doors usually produce when one of the gems leave/enter it. So this means an intruder.

Gathering all of your courage, you sneak out of bed, soundlessly so the intruder doesn’t hear you. Your skin is grey and your hair is black—so you blend in perfectly with the darkness. Summoning your shield in a quick flash of light, you grab it out of the air and bonk the intruder on the head.

They let out a screech of surprise as they fall down the stairs, tumbling and tumbling and tumbling. Once they hit the bottom, they burst into light, separating into two.

 

Another gem?

Er…you mean two gems?

Needing to get a better look, you begin to creep down the stairs, shield held right in front of you for protection. You use the gem on your hand as a light, illuminating the two gems laid out on the floor in front of you.

 

The first gem is quite small. His skin is a cloudy blue, and his hair is an untameable mass of darker blue. He’s wearing a sort of magicians dress—tuxedo vest with a star clip, white long-sleeve blouse that cuts off midriff and tights. His gem is a pale blue, cloudy thing that rests where his belly-button should be.

Hey! Pietersite has a gem on his stomach, and it kind of looks like this gems...

The second gem is much larger, with muscles hidden underneath dark red skin. Orange hair is styled perfectly, unlike the other gem. He is wearing the most ridiculous pair of shades you have ever seen and…not much else. The only item of clothing you can see on his body are some tight black jeans with stars stitched onto the knees. You can see a reddish glint coming from his left eye socket. You assume that this is his gem.

 

“I um…see you’ve met Zircon and Carnelian…” An amused voice startles you. You spin around to see Purple Pearl and Jade standing just outside the temple. Purple Pearl is the one that spoke, and you can see clear amusement in her violet eyes. Jade is standing next to her, laughing into her palm.

“Yeah yeah, fuck you too assholes.” The red one sits up, rubbing his head.

“Language Carnelian Quartz, there is a child present.”

“First of all—that’s not my name.” The red one—Carnelian—picks up the blue one—Zircon—and puts him on his lap, cradling him to his chest. “Second—he attacked us. I don’t think swearing is going to fuck him up that bad.”

“Us?”

Carnelian glares at you, but the stirring of Zircon distracts him. Carnelian immediately tends to the blue gem in his lap, who just pushes him away playfully.

Looking at them, you begin to feel guilty about bashing them over the head and separating them. They look so happy together! You don’t even know them—but you feel you do know them…they even look a bit familiar…

Jade sits beside you, grinning at the two gems in front of her.

 

“Figured it out yet Karkat?”

“Figured what out?”

“Shhhh it’s a secret! I’ll let them explain.” Jade winks, putting a green finger to her lips.

You turn back to Zircon and Carnelian, who have gotten off each other. They sit side by side, staring at you with intrigue and, on Carnelians’ side, annoyance.

 

“Um, hi Karkat! It’s nice to meet you face-to-face finally!” Zircon grins, waving at you cheerily.

“Um…hi?” You reply, staring at the two in front of you. You have no idea where Pietersite is and it’s staring to worry you.

“In case you don’t know, I’m Zircon, and this cute hunk of rock is Carnelian. Together, we fuse into Pietersite.”

“…oh…”

“Yeah.” Zircon chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’re really close…”

Carnelian nudges Zircon at that, wiggling his eyebrows. Zircon blushes in retaliation—a deep, brilliant blue hue.

“Anyway, bet you want to learn about how we met and joined the Crystal Gems!” Zircon chirps, swinging his arms wide.

“You’re probably going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?”

“He will.” Carnelian agrees, nodding. “He’ll never shut up about how I saved his life.”

“Heehee, shut it you…” Zircon shoves Carnelian playfully, which does absolutely nothing to Carnelians stocky frame.

 

“Well, anyway, it all began 5000 years ago. The Earth colony from Homeworld was prospering. My master—a warrior Jasper who had fought in several wars and was quite a prominent figure in gem society—was sent to Earth, me alongside her.

Now before we begin, do you remember what Homeworld designates a Zircons purpose? I think I remember Rose telling you.”

 

Oh great. He’s testing you. Now you’re going to have to pretend you were listening to that. It’ll be especially awkward since he _is_ a Zircon.

“Umm…fighting?” You through caution to the wind, and man does it blow back in your face.

Zircon and Jade both titter uncontrollably, hiding their mouths in their hands. Purple Pearl is facepalming again—obviously you got it wrong. Carnelian has a lightish blush dusted across his cheeks, probably thinking some rather perverted thoughts.

Purple Pearl sighs, settling down beside you. “Zircons are very powerful gems. Some gems can only control one element—most none at all. But Zircons can control all of them. Kind of like the Avatar show you watch. Because of this, these gems are too powerful and strong-willed for the Diamonds to control. But, since they are so powerful, they are desired among many. They are so wild and untameable that it is almost impossible to even find them. But…those who do ‘tame’ them are referred to as Gods. ‘Taming’ them is the horrible bit—you take their gem and clean it. Of their personality, of their life, of their memories, of their everything!”

“So…a status symbol?”

“Exactly! Much like Pearls are.”

“…Do you have cool powers? Like, who exactly are you powerful?” You shyly ask Zircon.

Instead of replying, Zircon lifts his hand up.

First, you’re lifted up in the air by a sudden draft. The draft that’s carrying you is oddly warm AND cold. It cradles you mid-air, while at the same time it blows your clothes and hair around.

Second, globules of water appear as if out of thin air. They shine in the light of the sudden flames appearing around you. The drops of water and licks of flame begin to merge together, forming a string of water and of flame that spin around you, once, twice. They remind you of the dragons that Terezi always talks about. The floor breaks open with an almighty crack, a large rock rising up through the broken wooden floor.

The flying dragon of flames smashes down onto the rock, sending sparks everywhere. You cover your eyes with your hands as the water dragon crashes onto the rock, drenching you with water.

“Thanks.” You say, wet hair sending streams of water down your face.

“Oops. Might have gone a bit overboard there…” Zircon chuckles nervously, the draft putting you down.

 

“A-Anyway, let’s get back to our story!” Zircon claps his hands together.

“So umm…where was I?”

“You were travelling to Earth.”

“Ah yes! I must admit…I had no impressions at all of Earth. To me, it was just another colony. Just another place Homeworld has set its grubby claws on. Just another bunch of Quartz soldiers to guard just another city.

Jasper insisted on striding around the city with me—no doubt to show off. We were walking down the market streets, passing curious stares and several gems playing an unfamiliar game. Then _it_ happened.”

“I bumped into him. Like actually smashed into him. I actually…cracked his gem a little bit.” Carnelian looks away, but Zircon takes his hand and smiles.

“And if you didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” Zircon takes Carnelians cheeks and squishes them together, earning himself an unamused glare. They stare into each others eyes (or eye in Carnelians case) almost longingly.

“Are you two going to continue the story or make out?” You grumble.

“Karkat!” Jade nudges you with her elbow.

“Oh! Right. Sorry.” Zircon chuckles, blushing blue.

 

“Well after Carnelian cracked my gem, I regained myself. All my personality and memories came back to me. I was myself again! The Carnelian that knocked me down was fascinating! I wanted to learn more about him, so I covered for him. I told Jasper that it was my fault so that I would take the blame. As she escorted me away, I couldn’t stop staring at the Carnelian who saved me.”

“He couldn’t stop staring at these guns.” Carnelian grins and flexes his arms. You wrinkle up your nose in disgust.

Zircon rolls his eyes, smiling fondly. “Later that night, I called him into Jaspers quarters while she was asleep. Gems don’t need sleep—but once again, Jasper did what she wanted. He was so nervous, it was adorable! He was stuttering and rambling—I was worried Jasper was going to wake up! I shushed him and revealed myself, stepping out from behind the curtains.” Zircon pauses, fingers hovering just above his gem.

It lights up, casting a blue hologram of Zircon and Carnelian in the room. They are both wearing different clothing than they are now—more formal, stiff looking clothing covered in diamonds.

 

“You were the one that summoned me?” Holo-Carnelian asks, staring at Holo-Zircon with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

“Yes.” Holo-Zircon says, stepping forward a little bit. Holo-Carnelian backs away from Holo-Zircons closeness.

“Y-You’re a wild one…W-why are you here? Surely J-Jasper would have…” Holo-Carnelian continues to back away, hands held up in defence.

“She did…but you freed me!”

“Oh fuck no. I’m out.” Holo-Carnelian turns to leave, but Holo-Zircon waves his hand upwards. A pillar of rock rises up to block the exit, causing Holo-Carnelian to step back.

“Wait! Please help me!” Holo-Zircon begs, a look of desperation on his face.

“Why should I help you?”

“You helped me before! When you…um…” Holo-Zircon uncovers his hidden gem, revealing the small crack on its surface. Holo-Carnelian steps back, eye wide in terror.

“Oh Diamonds above, you’re going to shatter me aren’t you? As payback? You’re gonna take my shards and eat them! Just like all the other Zircons! I never thought I was going to shatter like this! I thought I was gonna shatter in battle or something—you know, all heroic and shit, not fucking jumped by a crazy-ass Zircon!”

“Wha…? No! Why would I do that? I doubt your gem-shards would taste that good anyway.” It's obvious Holo-Zircon is messing with him, but somehow, Holo-Carnelian doesn't see it.

Holo-Carnelian shrieks in surprise, loudly and clearly. The curtain behind Holo-Zircon begins to move. Holo-Zircon widens his eyes in shock and surges forward, covering up Holo-Carnelians’ mouth. With bated breath, the two holographic gems stare up at the rustling curtains.

 

“Zircon?” A powerful, booming voice echoes through the room.

“Yes my Jasper?” Zircon answers, voice surprisingly emotionless.

“What was that noise?”

“Nothing my Jasper. Perhaps it was just one of your ‘nightmares’.”

“Shut up! Your purpose is not to tell me your opinion, but to serve me.”

“I—sorry my Jasper.” Both Holo-Zircons face and Zircons face crumples up in sadness. You see both Holo-Carnelian and Carnelian tense up.

“Goodnight.” Holo-Zircon whispers. Holo-Jasper doesn’t reply.

The two holo-gems stare up at the curtain until they’re sure Jasper is asleep again.

“Go now. Please don’t tell anyone about this.” Holo-Zircon whispers. Before Holo-Carnelian can protest, Holo-Zircon pushes him out of the room, their form melding through the thick earth that blocks the exit.

The hologram shuts off, plunging the room back into darkness.

 

“The next night, after Jasper fell asleep, Dave snuck into our house. At first I was surprised, but soon we were talking. Before I knew it, the sun was up and he had to go. But he came back the next night, and the next, and the next! We always talked for _hours_ —about nothing in particular, just stuff! We talked until the sun came up and he had to go.

But then, one night, the inevitable happened. Jasper woke up.

She uh…it’s better if I just show you.”

Once again, John’s gem lights up, casting a blue hologram around the room.

 

Holo-Jasper is holding Holo-Zircon up by his shirt, whilst Holo-Carnelian has been poofed. His gem rests on the floor, protected in a pocket of air.

“How dare you.” Holo-Jasper snarls, spitting in Holo-Zircons face. Holo-Zircon just struggles against Holo-Jasper, but to no avail.

“I have given you everything. I included you in our honourable society. I gave you a home, a _purpose_ and you repaid me with this?” Holo-Jasper gestures towards Holo-Carnelians’ gem.

“Leave him out of this.” Holo-Zircon snarls, pushing away from Holo-Jaspers grip with the aid of a sudden burst of wind. He flips over, landing above Holo-Carnelians gem. With a flick of his wrist, a gale force wind blows, knocking Holo-Jasper briefly out of range of the holo-field. Holo-Zircon surrounds himself and Holo-Carnelian with a circle of flames—protecting them from Holo-Jasper.

Holo-Jasper lets out a roar of fury, charging towards Holo-Zircon and Holo-Carnelian. She brandishes her huge broadsword, aiming it at Holo-Zircon while she charges. Holo-Zircon squeezes his eyes shut, bracing for impact.

Holo-Carnelians’ gem starts to glow. Holo-Zircon steps back to allow him space to reform. Holo-Carnelians shape begins to reform, but bigger, burlier and stronger than before. As soon as he reforms, he’s summoning his sword, the ring of flames dying down to let him pass. Holo-Jasper and Holo-Carnelian charge towards each other, swords flashing in the light.

Holo-Carnelian may have added more muscles and strength when he reformed, but Holo-Jasper was a hardened Quartz Warrior who had fought in many Gem Wars.

She knocks him to the side like he’s nothing.

“Carnelian!” Holo-Zircon yells, rushing forward to catch his friend.

As Holo-Zircon jumps to catch Holo-Carnelian, something amazing happens.

They both begin to glow a brilliant white light, bodies merging into one. Holo-Pietersite stumbles into existence, blinking confusedly. But Holo-Pietersite has no time to ponder on his newfound existence, because Holo-Jasper is charging for him, sword out.

Instead of worrying, Holo-Pietersite summons a blue war hammer and a red katana. He merges them together, creating a double-sided axe. He meets Holo-Jasper full on, ignoring her taunts and words of disgust aimed at him.

“Disgusting! How can you stand being something so wrong?” Holo-Jasper snarls, swiping at them with her sword.

“I dunno! I feel pretty great actually!” Holo-Pietersite says, dodging Holo-Jaspers attack and making an attack of their own. They kick out, foot bursting with flames. It hits Holo-Jasper square in the chest, sending her flying. She collapses on the ground.

Holo-Pietersite takes this opportunity to leap forward, brandishing his axe. He lands on Holo-Jaspers chest, raising his axe high.

Just as it crashes down, the hologram cuts off.

 

“You uh…get the idea.” Zircon stutters, gesturing a little wildly.

“Let’s just say Pietersite completely fucked over that gem city.” Carnelian nods to himself. Zircon elbows him, but Carnelian continues.

“Then we ran from the ruined city, all hyped up and shit. Once we were safely away from the city, we separated. Pietersite had taken us to a beachside cave, which Zircon promptly hid with rocks and vines. We stayed there for a few centuries I guess? I don’t know, shit happens.” Carnelian shrugs. “We just fucked around for a while—until we fucked up too bad.”

“How did you fuck up?” You ask. This response causes Purple Pearl, Jade and Zircon to glare at Carnelian, who just shrugs nonchalantly.

“Well one day, we were playing a game on the rocks. Like tag or hide-and-seek or something. Anyway, Zircon tripped and fell, cracking his gem even further. He began…glitching up and forgetting things. I didn’t know what to do, I was so worried. I took him into our cave and tried to take care of him. It was hard, but I managed.

Then, about a month or so later, I heard voices outside of our cave. Peering out, they looked like gems! Without thinking, I leapt into battle. They were surprised, but it was two to one. I still managed to kick their asses.”

“We all know that’s not true.” Purple Pearl rolls her eyes.

“Fine! Your mum kicked my ass!” Carnelian huffs whilst Zircon chuckles.

“And then he begged her not to hurt me, so she went inside the cave and healed me! Then, you mother and Purple Pearl offered us a place in the Crystal Gems. We accepted, and you probably know the rest!” Zircon finishes.

 

“Wow. That was pretty long.” You say, staring at the two gems before you.

“Oh just wait until you hear _my_ version.” Carnelian grins.

“It’s all lies and not appropriate for children.” Zircon whispers, leaning forward to whisper in your ear.

“Is not!” Carnelian protests.

“Is too!”

 

“Happy Birthday Karkat.” Purple Pearl smiles and hands you a dvd shaped box. You rip off the perfect wrapping paper, widening your eyes at what’s inside.

“Woah! Romance Academy No. 5! How did you know I wanted this?” You exclaim, holding it up in the air.

“Well, you have talked about it nearly everyday for the past year.”

“Oh. Thanks Purple Pearl!” You bring her in for a hug and she smiles, ruffling your hair affectionately.

“Hey Karkat! Come see what I got you!” Jade half-yells, gesturing wildly. You wiggle out of Purple Pearls grip and go up to Jade, who is holding out a rather thick and heavy book.

“Here you go kiddo, all yours.” She grins, and you take the book. “It’s a coding manual, filled to the brim with all the codes your nerdy little heart desires.”

“Thanks Jade!” You give her a rare smile and hug her again.

 

Suddenly, you’re engulfed in a massive, killer hug. Pietersite picks both you and Jade up off the ground, dragging Purple Pearl into the fray. He lifts you up, looking at you with wide blue and red eyes.

“Happy Birthday Karkat!”

You look around at your family, smiling and laughing. Pietersite is still holding you all tightly in his arms, laughing his ass off. Purple Pearl is smiling, her feet lifted off the ground. Jade is grinning wildly, patting Pietersite on the back.

It has indeed been a very happy birthday.


	2. Rooftop Stargazing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to be working solely on one-shots/sequels from now on bc I have commitment issues. I may pick up more but idk. I have year 11 next year and I'm going to start cracking down on studying and stuff so yeah.  
> Enjoy this while I make a (probably longish) sequel to kalosian dreams set in alola bc moon is one of the best pokemon games there is tbh

Your name is Karkat Vantas-Universe, and you can’t sleep.

You’ve tried and tried, but you just can’t! Every time you close your eyes, you keep flashing back to the events of the past 24-hours.

It’s nothing traumatising, just highly embarrassing.

 

Despite being half-alien, you’re still forced to go to school. Purple Pearl insists you go—saying you need to learn your human heritage just as much as your gem heritage. Plus its compulsory and they’ll get fined if you don’t go.

School is…okay.

You like learning. Although you’ll never admit it, you quite enjoy learning about ancient civilisations, doing art classes and even learning maths. What you don’t like, is the people in your classes.

A specific group of people in your class, to be exact.

Through fists, taunts and kicks, they make your happy learning environment hell. You haven’t told Purple Pearl, Jade or Pietersite, in fear of their reaction. You _know_ they’ll blow it way out of proportion.

Today, when you were walking to your table at lunch, they tripped you up. All your food went flying, covering you head-to-toe. Right in front of your crush! It was the most cliché bullying trick you’ve ever seen—and it worked.

It was mortifying. She was laughing at you, they were laughing at you, everyone was laughing at you!

You just want to curl up under your bedsheets and die. Well, sleep until you forget. You joke about wanting to die a lot, but you don’t actually want to die. You’re being a little over-dramatic, but hey, that’s just part of who you are.

 

You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to force out the laughter ringing in your ears. It doesn’t work. It’s even more loud and obnoxious than ever. You try to ignore it, but it’s really hard when it seems to be coming from up above. It’s like god himself (or whatever deity is actually up there) is laughing at you.

Especially when you hear another voice, laughing alongside the first laugh. Great. First the kids at school were laughing at you, now the roof is too.

Frustrated, you clamp your pillow over your ears, grumbling to yourself. Could the people upstairs on your roof keep it down? You’re trying to moan about your hard, hard life here!

But the more you try to drown them out, the louder they become. Their voices seem…familiar somehow. Like you’ve heard their voices before, but only from a passing conversation long ago.

You roll over, trying to place the familiar voices. Beach City is rather small, and you pretty much know everyone by name. Everyone is instantly recognisable—so who are these two strangers on the roof?

Then it clicks, just as the people up above start laughing again.

 

A wave of excitement overtakes you, and you go shooting out of bed. Your bare feet thump against the wooden floorboards as you go racing down the stairs. You come skidding to a halt in front of the front door, almost slipping on the welcome mat in your haste to get outside.

The laughing stops when you burst through the door, replaced by an amused silence.

“Hey Karkat! Did we wake you?” Zircon waves at you from up on the roof, grinning. Carnelian who is sitting beside him, gives you a small nod in recognition.

“No.” You say, leaning on the railing and playing it cool. “I was already awake. I can’t sleep.”

“Awww, that’s no good.” Zircon’s face crumples in concern and he leans a little closer to you. “Something keeping you up?”

“Yeah it’s—“ You shut your mouth immediately after opening it, cursing your loud-mouth. You don’t want to tell them about your bullies! That’ll make you seem uncool. This is the second time you’ve ever met Zircon and Carnelian—you don’t want them to think less of you over a few bullies. “—Nothing…”

“Yeah it’s nothing? That doesn’t sound right.” Carnelian leans close, mimicking his…boyfriend? You guess?

“It’s nothing. Just school.” You say hurriedly, hoping they don’t notice your nervousness. Zircon’s lips curl in disgust and Carnelian wrinkles up his nose.

“That’s completely understandable.” Zircon huffs. “School is terrible.”

“What, you have school on Homeworld?” You narrow your eyes at them. “Like actual school? Purple Pearl never mentioned that.”

“Oh she wouldn’t. Homeworld school is little…different from human school. Purple Pearl wouldn’t want you to be put off of human school, so she didn’t tell you about gem school.” Zircon’s lips press into a thin line.

“Well, if _she_ won’t tell me about it, will you tell me about it?” You ask, hopping up onto the deck railing.

 

“Sure. It’s a brainwashing facility. And no, not in the whiny human teenager kind. Gem school is a literal brainwashing facility. They ‘teach’ different newly-birthed gems what they’re ’supposed’ to be.” Carnelian looks away forlornly, for dramatic effect. Zircon frowns a little bit and squeezes Carnelian’s hand. Carnelian smiles back at him, although there’s a touch of wariness in there somewhere.

“That’s a little bit fucked up.” You ask, ignoring Zircon elbowing Carnelian in the ribs.

“Yeah…”

“Hey Karkat want to join us? It’s a lovely night for star-gazing.” Zircon pats the side of the roof that isn’t occupied by Carnelian with his hand.

“Sure.” You stand up on the deck railings, wobbling slightly. Arms spread outward for balance, you steady yourself, ready to make a jump. You leap up to the roof, fingers catching the guttering. Your legs cycle wildly in the air as you struggle to pull yourself up. Carnelian watches amusedly as you struggle, obviously unafraid of laughing. Zircon huffs, and lifts up his hands, guiding you up onto the roof with his air powers.

 

“So Karkat, how’s school?” Zircon asks once you’re all settled beside him. “How come it’s keeping you up?”

“No reason.” You say as quickly as you can, trying to change the subject. “So um, why are you two unfused? I’ve only ever see you unfuse once! That was for my birthday, and you fused again pretty quickly after that.”

“Oh, we unfuse every night to look up at the stars.” John shrugs nonchalantly. “You can’t expect us to be fused permanently—we do need…somewhat…of a break from each other every once in a while. “

“What!? How come I’ve never noticed this?”

“We’ve kept pretty quiet, and you sleep as soundly as a snug little bug in a rug.” Carnelian slings an arm over Zircon’s shoulders, making both gems smile.

“I do not!” You protest, huffing a little and folding your arms.

“That’s not an insult, so calm your tits.” Carnelian smirks. You get a feeling he smirks a lot.

“My tits are very calm thank you very much!” You can’t help but shriek in indignation, covering said ‘tits’ with your hands.

“ _Anyway._ ” Zircon pushes inbetween the two of you, amused grin on his lips. “To be completely honest, we never intended this whole fusion thing to go this far.”

“’This whole fusion thing to get this far’? What the hell does that mean?” You ask, frowning. Zircon and Carnelian share a worried look. Carnelian’s eye visibly widens under his shades. Zircon shrinks in on himself a little, in shame.

“Well you see…” Zircon turns to you, looking very guilty. “…this all started out as a prank. We uh…found out Onyx was pregnant and decided to pretend to be one person to the baby. Like, a fusion or something. We’d fused before and enjoyed it, how hard could it be? Everyone was against it, which made it funnier.”

You stand up, causing Zircon to stop talking and stare up at you in an unreadable mix of emotions. “Funny? You think I’m just a big joke, don’t you!? You lied to me all my life, just for a prank! This is complete bullshit!” Struggling to stop your tears from spilling down your cheeks, you turn to go.

But you’re stopped by a wet hand, clutching desperately at your wrist.

 

“Karkat wait!” Zircon pleads.

“Let go of me.” You say firmly, without a hint of hesitation, tears still running down your cheeks.

“Only if you don’t run away. _Please_ let us explain.”

You stay silent, heaving great big sobs, long since given up on keeping them quiet. The water slips away from your wrist and you turn, staring sullenly at the two sorry-looking gems in front of you.

“At first it was funny, I’ll admit. But then we grew to love being fused, and love you even more. It killed us to watch you grow up and never get to know you ourselves. We regret never telling you about us so, _so_ much. We are so, so, _so_ sorry.” Zircon’s eyes are downcast and stormy, tears roll freely down his cheeks. “We lied to you your whole life. It’s all our fault.”

“Look Karkat, we’re assholes. That’s the first thing you should know about us.” Carnelian says, Zircon nodding next to him.

“We never meant to hurt you!” Zircon chimes in. “We just really want to get to know you ourselves, not as one, but as two. I know we hurt you, and that’s reprehensible. What we did was terrible, and we don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“It’s okay…” You sob, collapsing in front of them. “Well it’s not, you still lied to me all my life. But I want to get to know you two as well! I’ve wanted to get to know you ever since my birthday but I didn’t want to ask. I love Purple Pearl and I love Jade and I love Pietersite but I’ve never gotten the chance to love Zircon and Carnelian. I…I really want that chance.”

Carnelian pulls you onto his lap and Zircon curls up next to you, so both gems are holding you. You feel tears dampen your skin and hair, and you think your own tears are making Carnelian’s clothes damp.

 

Zircon pulls away slightly, only enough to look at you. He wiggles his hand out of your hug and holds it out to you.

“Let’s start anew! I’m Zircon and this is Carnelian. You are?”

“Karkat.” You take his hand, sharing his nervous smile.

“So, how’s school?” John asks, obviously straining for conversation.

“It’s fine.” You say too quickly, desperate to change the subject.

“You said that a little too quickly…” Zircon narrows his eyes a little bit.

“No I didn’t! School’s fine! Learning’s fine! Everything’s fine! It’s not like I’m being bullied or anything!” You squeak.

“You’re being bullied!?” Zircon and Carnelian cry in unison.

“What! Who’s bullying you? Why? Have they hurt you!?” Zircon continues squeaking like a very angry bird.

“Zircon, calm down.” Carnelian interjects, patting Zircon’s back reassuringly.

“Calm down!? _Calm down!?_ You’re telling me to calm down when Karkat is being bullied!?” Carnelian cuts off Zircon before he can ramble any further.

“Karkat, who’s bullying you?” Carnelian asks, lifting his shades to look at you properly.

“No one! I never said anything about being bullied!” You protest, refusing to meet his eye.

“Alright then. I believe you. But let me give you some advice; dealing with bullies is hard. But despite what all those anti-bullying campaigns say, don’t ignore them. Ignoring them will make them try _more._ They’ll turn to their fists to get their point across. Just remember that you are unique and special. We love you Karkat, don’t you ever, ever forget that.” Carnelian insists, hugging you tight.

Not wanting to talk about this, you wiggle down in Carnelian’s arms and close your eyes. Zircon chuckles nervously, and presses himself against you. The strange coolness of their bodies soothes you. You feel much sleepier now, as if the talk with Zircon and Carnelian has drained you. But in a good way!

Carnelian’s arms and Zircon’s hugs are so nice…you’re sure they won’t mind if you just rest your eyes for a little bit…

You sigh, and let Zircon and Carnelian’s soft whispers lull you to sleep…

 

* * *

 

“—at do you think you two are doing, letting him sleep up on the roof in the middle of the night!? He has school today!!” The familiar voice of Purple Pearl rouses you from your sleep.

“Aw c’mon pearlie—he had us to keep him warm.” Carnelian snarks back. “See? He’s comfy!” He jostles you around a bit, shaking you into full wakefulness. You feign sleep as best you can, not wanting to get yelled at for sleeping up on the roof.

“Carnelian! Don’t do that! He’s sleeping!” Zircon stills the shaking, allowing you to slide back into comfort.

You let the sounds of your family fade out as you slip back into a half-awake, half-asleep state. They may be weird, and argumentative, and not normal at all, but they’re yours. You love them, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
